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The government is making plans to keep the restaurants open permanently after the closure ends next week.
However, wet pubs can be sacrificed to keep gourmet restaurants and pubs open for the long term.
The € 9 “substantial food” rule is being revised and may be dropped in favor of new regulations for venues serving food and alcohol.
Almost 500 restaurants, bars and hotels have written an open letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin demanding clarity before the closing date on December 1.
“The uncertainty around decisions must stop, and we need clear plans that our industry can follow,” the letter says.
“There is no good reason for Ireland to continue to be treated as an outlier in the EU, where, for the most part, the hospitality industry has been treated fairly.”
Meanwhile, fines for not wearing a mask in shops or buses, holding a party at home, or breaking Covid-19 travel rules will finally become law today.
Figures released yesterday by the Center for Health Protection Surveillance showed that there were 318 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and one additional death yesterday.
Of the reported cases, 126 were in Dublin, 45 in Cork, 28 in Limerick, 21 in Donegal and 18 in Kildare, while the remaining cases were distributed in another 18 counties.
The leaders of the three parties of the Coalition will meet today to discuss the exit from the national lockdown. The cabinet will meet tomorrow to discuss the move to Level 3 restrictions before the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) issues its advice on Thursday.
A second cabinet meeting is scheduled for Friday to approve plans for living with the coronavirus. It is expected that there will be varying degrees of restrictions within Level 3 throughout the month of December.
The government’s priorities are, first, to allow retailers to reopen in December, and then to allow people to travel within Ireland to see their families at Christmas. Its third objective is to enable the hospitality industry to function safely.
Yesterday, a senior government source said a plan is being drawn up to allow restaurants to open permanently. Senior officials are drafting new regulations for the sector to ensure that “genuine” restaurants and gastro-pubs can open in December.
A central source for the decision-making process said: “Whatever is decided has to work and the goal is for restaurants to stay open and not stop / start over.”
The new rules aim to clamp down on venues serving cheap meals or sandwiches to ensure they can meet the government’s requirement of a substantial € 9 meal.
“It’s safe to say that substantial food is being analyzed and will likely be removed, but the bottom line is that it doesn’t look good for wet pubs that are allowed to open,” said a source.
Another senior government source said that “the 9 euro thing never really worked”: “But it didn’t really matter when we thought we would open pubs in a few weeks.”
Irish independent
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